How To Find The Best Betting Odds

So you’ve picked a team for the big match this Sunday and you’re ready to place the bet in a matter of seconds. But before you place that bet and let you money ride on said club this weekend, you may want to take a closer look at the odds you’re getting from your sportsbook. Sure, you know the line looks good…but is it the best possible line you can get?

Maybe. But chances are probably good that you could get better lines at another book. But why do it matter if you can get better odds at another book? Well if you end up winning the bet, you could be in for a better payout. And if you do lose, there could be a chance that you could save some coin if you got a more favourable line.

But just where do you go to compare and find the best betting odds? Why don’t you come along and see.

The first step to looking for betting lines is to find a reputable website that gives you at least 10-15 sites and their odds all at once. Whilst that might seem like a lot of information to digest, I can assure you that it’s very easy once you understand what you’re looking at.
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1) Select a site: I like to use football-data for my betting odds, but you’re more than welcome to use a plethora of other options out there if you so choose. Some are connected to betting sites, so please be aware of the links before you click. Sometimes the numbers are a bit skewed in favour of the site. Football-data does a good job at giving you an unbiased look.

2) Reading the odds: Assuming we’ll be getting readers from all over the world looking at these step-by-step instructions, I’ve decided to use moneyline odds for the example. With that in mind, click on the odds tab and find a match you want to bet on. For this example I’ll be using the odds from Italy and Germany’s U21 match:

OK, so we can see the match has odds for eight different betting sites. We need to be able to look at these numbers and find the best odds depending on the side you want to bet on. Let’s say you want to take a punt on Italy to win — well then you’d want to find the most favourable odds since Italy is the favourite. You’ll notice they’re currently being bet around +130-140, so you figure that’s the average odds most places will be giving. But if you notice on the right, Betfair has odds of +162 for Italy to win. Those odds are in some cases 30 points higher based on other sites.

When you consider that a placing a bet of 100 quid could get you a profit of 130-140 in some cases if you used the average odds, you could essentially get an extra 30 of so quid if you took the time to look at a betting site before you bet!

That alone makes it worthwhile to look at the odds with a critical eye. The same could be said if you wanted to lay a punt on Germany to win.

3) Selecting the book: You’ll now want to sign-up for the book with the best odds. But before you do, make doubly sure that the odds are still correct on the site. Like any betting site, the odds could change from minute to minute. Once confirmed, just sign-up and place the bet! I don’t recommend shopping for lines if you’re a novice, as opening 4-5 books can be a lot of work.

Line shopping for the best odds should be done by those who understand the nuiances of betting, as well as those who can afford to open more than 1-2 betting accounts.